DKW 350cc Grand Prix Racer
DKW 350cc Gran Prix Racer by Protar. 1/9 scale. One of the cobbiest appearing of the lot, this one is a hardware junky’s dream. Lots of pipes, wires, linkages and rough castings all enclosed in a full fairing to hide all those hours of work. The debut of the 350cc racer in August 1953 by August Hobl in Germany saw the three-cylinder two stroke with no fairing in place and began years of harrying the ultra-lightweight 350cc Guzzi singles. The unusual layout of this normally aspirated engine had the center cylinder layed down horizontally while the two outside barrels canted forward a few degrees from vertical. The lack of engine braking ultimately led to the use of four 9 1/2 in-diameter double- leading shoe brakes, all hydraulically operated from the pedal, with a supplementary hand lever for the front ones. The powerband was from 7,500 to 11,000rpm but the engine was so smooth that it would easily spin to 15,000rpm.
